Author: Bella Andre

Oh God.

How could Lori’s big brother be Marcus?

And who knew that it would turn out to be a really, really big deal who Lori was related to, after all?

Chapter Six

No.

No way.

Marcus stiffened beneath his sister’s hug as he made eye contact with the only other person in the room.

Nicola.

What the hell was she doing here?

He could tell from the way she was dressed in a cut-off tank top and tight short-shorts that she was a dancer. It was just his luck that she’d turned out to be one of Lori’s dancers.

Only, what should have been bad luck...wasn’t.

Because no matter how many times he’d told himself that walking away from her that morning had been the right thing to do, he hadn’t yet been able to make himself believe it. Not when his body was utterly at odds with his brain.

And not when he’d wanted to take their one kiss and turn it into an all day—and all night—tangle of naked limbs and heat.

He’d known how beautiful her shape was last night in that leather dress, but she was much closer to naked now, with only the thinnest layers of cotton and Spandex covering her beautiful curves.

And—oh Jesus—was that a bead of sweat trailing down between her breasts?

Lori pulled back in his arms and he forced himself to drag his gaze away from Nicola. His baby sister looked up at him, studying him more carefully than usual.

“Were your meetings okay today? You look a little tense.”

He worked to keep his attention on his sister rather than the shockingly beautiful woman by the wall of mirrors. “They were fine.”

Lori frowned at his curt response. She’d always been fascinated with the wine industry and he usually shared the details of his business with her. Not just because she was interested, but because she had good ideas. If she hadn’t been such a great dancer and choreographer, he’d have hired her straight out of college.

“Something’s wrong.” She didn’t say it as a question. “Later. I’ll make you tell me later.” And then she dropped one of his hands and used the other to pull him toward Nicola, who’d been watching them warily. “Come here. I can’t wait to introduce you to Nico.”

Nico?

Something flashed in his mind, a hint that he should know something he’d been missing since last night, but he was so off-kilter from seeing the woman he’d been reluctantly fantasizing about all day, that he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

“Nico, this is my brother Marcus.”

Nicola—Nico didn’t sound quite right to him, even though his sister said it with such confidence—was gripping the wooden barre in front of the mirror so tightly he could see her knuckles turning white. Her face was on the white side, too, and she wasn’t doing a damn thing to erase the horror on her face at seeing him again.

Guilt hit him square across the chest. She’d put herself out there by asking him for another night and he’d turned her down cold. Apart from the kiss, which had been anything but cold.

And now, here he was, barging in on her dancing gig for a big pop star.

Seeing him had to be the very last thing she wanted.

Lori was looking between the two of them with an utterly confused expression. Knowing he’d better break the ice—and fast—before his sister clued in to just how wrong things were, he held out his hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Nicola stared down at his hand for a long moment, before looking back at him with those big eyes that had been haunting him all day. Her movements were jerky, almost robotic, as she finally pushed away from the barre and put her hand in his.

“Hi.” She cleared her throat as she yanked her hand away. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

The silence hung heavy and thick between them before he asked, “So, how long have you two been working together?”

Lori shot him another strange look. “You know I’ve been working on this video shoot for the past couple of days.”

Okay then, Nicola must be one of her new dancers. But before he could ask any other questions or try to make small talk to set Nicola more at ease, a large group started coming in through the doors. He recognized most of them as men and women Lori had worked with in the past and they raised their hands in greeting.

“Got any vino for us, Marcus?”

He smiled, but it didn’t feel right on his face, not with Nicola still looking at him like his appearance was totally and completely unwelcome.

“I’ll make sure there’s a case waiting for you guys at the end,” he promised. He turned back to Lori. “Looks like you’re getting back to it. I’ll get out of your way.”

She put her hand on his arm. “I wanted you to stay and watch.” She looked at Nicola. “It’s still okay if he hangs out, isn’t it?”

Nicola licked her lips, looking uncertain. And then she smiled, a lifting of her lips that looked about as genuine as the smile he’d just given the dancers.

“Of course.” Her lips moved into a wider smile, almost a grimace. “He should see the magic you’ve created, Lori.” Finally, she looked back at him, their gazes locking together and holding for a long moment before she said, “Your sister is amazing.”

Nicola was so beautiful—so incredibly vulnerable as she stood there in front of him—that he had to focus hard just to get out the words, “I know.”

They stood like that for way too long, staring at each other without speaking. At last, Lori said, “Come sit over here where no one will accidentally kick you in the face.”

Someone turned on the music as he and Lori walked away from Nicola. “I didn’t think you’d act that way around her,” she hissed.

Marcus mirrored back his sister’s frown. Had Nicola told his sister about meeting him? About going back to Smith’s house and falling asleep on his lap?

No. Lori wasn’t capable of holding something like that inside. She would have called him hours ago to demand to know what he was doing fooling around with someone she worked with.

“Nico has to deal with people stuttering and acting weird around her all day long, just like Smith does. I asked you to come because I knew you’d roll with her fame and wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.”

Partway through getting chewed out by his baby sister for the way he’d acted, a light bulb went on in Marcus’s head.

“Nicola is the pop star you’re working for?”

Lori looked at him like he’d left his brains out to fry on the sidewalk. “Her name is Nico. And you know she’s the one who hired me to work on her video. Why are you acting so weird?"

Marcus suddenly realized where that hint of familiarity had come from the night before. Lori must have shown him pictures of Nicola after she was hired to work on the video, but all he could remember was a lot of makeup and a sparkling bodysuit.

Thankfully, Lori didn’t have time to wait for his answer because one of the dancers was calling out to her for guidance. Shooting one last disgruntled look at him, his sister moved back onto the dance floor.

Nicola’s back was to him, but he could see her face reflected in the mirror. God help him, he couldn’t keep from staring at her. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and he could tell how hard she’d been dancing by the damp tendrils that were curling around her face.

All of the dancers had incredible bodies, but for Marcus, the curvy shape of Nicola’s hips and breasts threatened to make him rock hard in the middle of the studio.

Her eyes met his briefly in the mirror and she quickly lowered her head. Lori moved to Nicola and put a hand on her arm, leaning in to say something. Nicola shook her head, then moved into position.

A heartbeat later, Lori turned the song on and Nicola went into action.

She was so beautiful.

Marcus was mesmerized as she sang along with the surprisingly great song and danced in the center of her troupe. No wonder she’d become a star—he didn’t have a prayer of taking his eyes off her.

He remembered the way she’d commanded the attention of everyone in the nightclub simply by walking into the room. Now he knew it was partly because she was famous, but even if she’d just been a regular woman, people would have stopped and stared.

As her curves shifted and grazed the thin Spandex barely covering her skin, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what she’d look like naked, in his bed.

As if she could read his thoughts, Nicola suddenly stumbled, knocking into a male dancer, and Lori quickly shut off the music.

He knew he should leave, that he was throwing her off. But he wasn’t going anywhere.

Marcus Sullivan didn’t believe in hiding from his mistakes. Hell, his relationship with Jill was the only time he’d ever tried to convince himself that something wrong was right. He should have trusted his gut, but he’d been so focused on what he wanted to see, instead of what was actually there.

He knew exactly what was between him and Nicola, sparks that lit and sizzled so bright and hot he was still singed from their one and only kiss.

He’d been a fool to turn her down.

He wasn’t going to be an even bigger fool by walking away from her again.

Chapter Seven

Please leave warred with Please don’t go inside Nicola’s head.

From moment to moment she vacillated between wanting Marcus gone and needing him to be so much closer. No wonder she’d barely been able to concentrate on rehearsing, with her brain and body pulled in two totally disparate directions the entire time he was there watching her with those dark, hungry eyes she knew she’d never be able to get out of her head.

When they were finally done for the night, the dancers quickly scattered, leaving her alone with Lori...and Marcus.

Nicola had gotten over her nerves a long time ago. She’d had to, if she ever wanted to get anyone’s attention with her music. But Marcus made her incredibly nervous in a way she’d never been nervous before.

Shoving the rest of her things into her big dance bag, she was just saying, “Thanks for working us all so hard today, Lori. I’ll see you tomorrow,” when a knock came at the door and a guy wearing a Mel’s Diner shirt walked in carrying several large bags full of food.

Lori clapped her hands. “These are the best burgers and fries in the world, Nico. Marcus, you ordered them, didn’t you?” She turned to Nicola. “You can stay to eat something, can’t you?”

Nicola looked at Lori in alarm. What was Marcus doing? Had he forgotten that he’d turned her down flat this morning? Couldn’t he feel how awkward this was for her?

“I’d love to, but I think I’d better just call it a night. Besides, you two probably have some catching up to do, so thanks, but—”

“Stay for dinner,” Marcus said. “Please.”

Marcus’s low words pulled at Nicola, so hard that she could almost feel herself leaning toward him. It hadn’t been a request, not quite a command either. But whatever it was, it had turned her brain to mush. Just as his one kiss had stolen her control that morning.

A few moments later she found herself sitting with them at the small table by the window, unwrapping a burger she couldn’t possibly eat. Not with Marcus so close that her belly kept clenching.

“So what did you think, Marcus? Isn’t Nico amazing?”

Nicola felt like she was blushing with her whole body. During rehearsal, she’d tried to keep eye contact to a minimum, because every time she accidentally looked at him she lost her footing. As they’d gone over and over the song, she hadn’t been able to read his expression, couldn’t tell if he was impressed with her...or if he thought her song—and dancing—sucked. She told herself she didn’t care if he liked it. Thirty-six-year-old men weren’t necessarily her core audience, after all.

“Did you write that song?”